Beginning this year, Thomson Reuters will contact medical practices in the demonstration areas and, via Web site and other outreach efforts, provide physicians with information about participating in the program.

"If this demonstration is successful, the Medical Home could become the new standard for treating the chronically ill," said Roger C. Lipitz, Center for Integrated Health Care at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The Lipitz Center is using $1.7 million in grants to help medical practices in being selected for the project.

In 2010, Thomson Reuters will facilitate a two-year beneficiary enrollment period. Beneficiaries with Medicare fee-for-service coverage who live within the demonstration locations may voluntarily participate if they have at least one qualifying chronic disease.

For the duration of the project, Thomson Reuters will monitor patients' eligibility for the demonstration and visit their Medical Homes.